My latest source of, well, humor is NBC paying $250 million for 3 years to show English Premiere League games. Not that contract itself... that's the right aim to invest but at a curious price.

The question: will NBC Sports show the "late" EPL Saturday game, almost always Saturday at 12:30 pm Eastern Time?

If so, interesting development for the Big East.

NBC has NBC Sports Net and Universal Sports to show the EPL on if there is a conflict. Also, the Big East could be shown at 3:30 or in prime time when Notre Dame has an away game. My guess is NBC would not show much (or any) EPL on NBC proper before Christmas. That's the way they worked the NHL last year, and they didn't show much MLS on NBC until the 2nd half of this season.

Do you think the Big East gets relegated to cable, or EPL? If EPL costs that much to score, I suspect it won't be EPL...at least, not fully. And what about local coverage? That might not be an issue in, say, Chicago, where the city does not have a Big East team, but in Philly or upstate NJ/NYC if Temple or Rutgers are playing at home? Sizable markets get shunted to local coverage?

Assuming NBC wins BE rights, here's what I think NBC's broadcast TV priorities will be from August to December:Notre Dame>Big East>any sponsored sports event (such as Red Bull/Dew Tour)>MLS>EPL>NHL. College football still rules the airwaves in the fall, and the BE will get a weekly game on broadcast TV, and probably a game on NBCSN. The EPL will get multiple matches per week all season long on Uni Sports and NBCSN, and will probably start on NBC on the Saturday between Christmas and New Years, after the BE, ND, and MLS end their seasons. In January, the EPL and NHL should get a match on NBC every weekend.

Assuming NBC wins BE rights, here's what I think NBC's broadcast TV priorities will be from August to December:Notre Dame>Big East>any sponsored sports event (such as Red Bull/Dew Tour)>MLS>EPL>NHL.College football still rules the airwaves in the fall, and the BE will get a weekly game on broadcast TV, and probably a game on NBCSN. The EPL will get multiple matches per week all season long on Uni Sports and NBCSN, and will probably start on NBC on the Saturday between Christmas and New Years, after the BE, ND, and MLS end their seasons. In January, the EPL and NHL should get a match on NBC every weekend.

I can see ND at the top, but in cities like New York and Boston where you may not have a true local Big East school, but do have a relatively healthy EPL-base, I think EPL may preempt BEF there depending on the matchup, though I agree about EPL getting better the later in the season.

Westwolf, good you shared this as a discussion basis. It is a perspective on the BE circumstances.

Bleachers can be "amateurish", though, void of the new, special, and exclusive "scoops" from insiders/officials/executives in the know, that have not been released elsewhere.Also, the stereotypes and assumptions about other top conferences and what they tried to do or may do, is neither insightful or void of error.

I'll defend the Big East here a bit. Many of the schools that largely helped create the conditions of difficulties the BE currently faces, are now gone or going. The bb-onlies cannot be the blame for all of it or even most of it, if an earlier split was seriously on the table.

The BE is left with trying to market its new design, as flawed as elements may be. They bought into the idea of across country and population-density demographics, coupled with their view of most favored names available, as the driven tool for their expansion, while their regional base and continuity was further diluted and compromised.

All the top conferences have a core geographical region for their footprint stamp; and the BE cannot much claim that except for basketball which has gotten over-stepped itself to an obvious and substantive degree. All this is factored in as to TV value, including both the perceptual and tangible dynamics.

#14 pursuit options are BYU, Army, or AFA? That has been out there for many months. Now if Bleachers had the credible and exclusive source of which one, if any, would be biting, now that would be a hot revelation.

The article from Bleacher Report brought up some interesting points worth thinking about but I think they have to be taken with a grain of salt considering the source.

One thing I think they are correct about is BYU. I think it's highly unlikely that the Big East will actually land BYU because BYU will take whatever offer is given and use it as leverage to get a better deal for themselves as an independent. Exposure is what BYU is after and unless there are assurances of big money and excellent television slots for the cougars (as well as tier 3 rights for byuTV) they won't come. The other thing to think about BYU is that they are going to be vying for bids to the 6 access bowls the same way the Big East is. As an independent they wouldn't have to share any bowl money with conference mates and I think the Cougars are going to be betting that once every 4-5 years they will unseat the Big East Champ and go to a big bowl.

The next point is Air Force and the gang of 5. The author is right; the only schools Air Force is really loyal to in the MWC are Wyoming and Colorado St and I think if the academy decided to take the Big East route they could maintain OOC rivalries with these schools and reap a nice pay check from BE football.

Army really only makes sense if Air Force is on board. The cadets are very conscientious of their pitiful C-USA days. Their would have to be the promise of continuing the Navy and Air Force rivalries and a decent payout to get them on board.

Now I think we have to consider the rest and by the rest I mean the best program left east of the Mississippi and the best program west of it. East Carolina would be very useful in securing deals with southern bowls concerned about Big East fans traveling to their venues. Pirate fans travel in droves. I think ignoring the Pirates is very short sighted on the Big East's part. The other school I am thinking about here is Fresno St. The bulldogs (and the pirates as well) would likely both be willing to sign on with the Big East even without knowing what the tv dollars will be. What Fresno St offers that ECU doesn't is a presence in the west to help cement the alliance with Boise, San Diego St, and the Texas schools.

One glaring omission in this article is the agenda of the 7 Catholic basketball schools. They remain a powerful voting block and they will not simply rubber stamp the decisions of the football programs. They are not going to simply going to leave and form a "Holy Catholic League" with the cream of the A-10. They intend to stay and they are going to want to have their say.

Essentially, all that's happening is the creation (more like promotion) of two additional BCS bowls (the old gang and Cotton and Peach) that will likely allow the majors access to two apiece (some may have more), and statistically, leave only 2 spots for at-larges. So, in a sense, yes, "little 5" can get access. Still only one if Notre Dame qualifies, but it's not like one is competing against ND like it is now. But, ND has two tie-ins technically, in this scheme according to the article?

sec03 wrote:

#14 pursuit options are BYU, Army, or AFA? That has been out there for many months. Now if Bleachers had the credible and exclusive source of which one, if any, would be biting, now that would be a hot revelation.

I think the article is saying that rather than going after AFA, BYU, Army, or any other, they should just focus on AFA, BYU, and Army. It isn't terribly insightful, but it's good to see them recognize that those really are the only three programs that would add national inventory to their conference, and would assist in making some coin.

Regarding BYU, it wouldn't surprise me if they want more than just a football-only cut. Don't know if they are demanding or even want the all-sports invite, but they will demand more dough than Boise and SDSU.

BYU is a real tough deal.They want a real undeserving package,that would do nothing for the BE.I think the tv people would like to hook up the Army/Navy game as part of their package.Also the BE comish wants to minimize travel,that is no more far west or rocky mountain schools.

Just a thought I had: What happens to the Army-Navy game if Army were to also join the Big East? The game might need to be played before the Big East Championship Game to determine the divisional champions. Even if neither is in a position to make the Big East Championship Game it may be needed to be played in certain tie-breaking scenarios depending on what the Big East uses (results against division opponents in descending order of division finish).

I was thinking Army-Navy on Veterans Day Weekend would be good but I think that would devalue the television worth of the game. It gets good ratings when it is the only game of the day but would anyone have noticed the game against yesterdays schedule of games?

Just a thought I had: What happens to the Army-Navy game if Army were to also join the Big East? The game might need to be played before the Big East Championship Game to determine the divisional champions. Even if neither is in a position to make the Big East Championship Game it may be needed to be played in certain tie-breaking scenarios depending on what the Big East uses (results against division opponents in descending order of division finish).

I was thinking Army-Navy on Veterans Day Weekend would be good but I think that would devalue the television worth of the game. It gets good ratings when it is the only game of the day but would anyone have noticed the game against yesterdays schedule of games?

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